PENSKE RACING (DARLINGTON) - RACE REPORT

NASCAR NEXTEL CUP SERIES

DARLINGTON, S.C. (May 13, 2007) - For the third straight week, Penske Racing led the Dodge contingent with Ryan Newman producing his first top-five finish since June 2006 and Kurt Busch placing 12th in Sunday's rain-delayed Dodge Avenger 500 at Darlington Raceway.

Newman led three times for 39 laps in his Alltel Dodge Avenger before fighting off Carl Edwards for fourth on the final lap of the 367-lap race on the 1.366-mile track. The South Bend, Ind., native has now produced top-10 finishes in the last three consecutive races with the last two coming in the Dodge Avenger. Newman's ninth at Talladega, sixth at Richmond and fourth at Darlington have allowed him to jump from 26th to 14th in the series standings, leaving him 97 points behind 12th, the final transfer spot in The Chase.

"Our guys are doing a great job," Newman said. "We've had good performances and we've had great race cars. We just finally got results."

After starting 29th, Newman led for the first time on lap 178 during a round of green-flag stops. He followed up those two laps in the No. 1 position with 17- and 20-lap segments in the race's second half.

When the ninth of 10 caution flags waved on lap 344, the Alltel team elected to follow eventual race winner Jeff Gordon's pit strategy. Gordon was leading at the time with Jimmie Johnson second and Newman third. There had been only five green-flag laps since they last pitted for four tires. Denny Hamlin and Johnson, who finished second and third, respectively, both pitted for four fresh tires and passed Newman in the race's closing laps.

"Those guys were racing me clean there at the end," Newman said. "I was just trying to hold on with old tires. I guess old tires won it, but we were in a position where we were trying to get the lead and it just didn't play out.

"Old tires won and new tires were close. I think if we hadn't had that one caution [10th yellow] we would have been in better shape yet, but that one caution hurt us. "I've got to thank Jimmie (Johnson) for racing me clean. I respect Jimmie a lot. I'm glad he raced me clean. He had a good opport unity a couple of times there to take my quarter right on around. It's give-and-take here at the end, but I was in position with old tires. He knew when he came in he was going to have an opportunity to pass some cars back. I just appreciate him racing me clean."

By the race's 60th lap, Newman had cracked the top 10 and he remained there the rest of the day. Quick pit stops by the Alltel team were also instrumental in keeping Newman in the top 10 on NASCAR's oldest superspeedway. The Alltel crew never had a stop that lasted longer than 13.90 seconds and six of their eight stops were under the 13-second range. The crew's speedy performances helped Newman gain eight positions during the yellow-flag stops throughout the day.

"The guys did a great job all day and it gives us something else to build on," Newman said. "The Alltel Dodge was really good today. It was a good points day as well."

Busch also had a good points day, gaining two positions in the stand ings. He is now seventh.

"I'd changed clothes this morning in the coach and not in the transporter and really didn't have the chance to get the good news for the day until almost an hour later," Busch said as he was headed back home to Mooresville, N.C. "They told me about the gain in points and that we've now climbed six positions in just the last three races. We just have to keep that momentum going."

Busch started Sunday's race in 18th. He passed Gordon for 10th on lap 64, and he bounced between sixth and 10th until lap 220, when he finally made it into the top five.

When the ninth of 10 caution flags waved, Busch's Miller Lite team elected to follow Johnson's strategy and came down pit road. However, the Miller Lite team had its worst stop of the day - 14.917 seconds - and that left Busch 13th on the lap 349 restart.

The final yellow flew with 17 laps remaining. Busch was back in 14th for the final restart with 12 laps to go, and he was able to make up only two spots during the final laps.

"It's frustrating, it really is," Busch said. "We fought a tight-handling car almost all day long and clawed our way up into the top five.

"We were a solid top-five car when the caution came out with just over 30 laps to go and had to decide whether to pit or not. It's almost become a no-win situation for us because regardless of what we do it seems to work against us. I was for pitting and that's what we did. The 48 car [Jimmie Johnson] was leading and he pitted. We followed him down pit road. The 24 [Jeff Gordon] was second and he stayed out. So did Ryan [Newman, teammate] and several others.

"We caught the worst end of the situation when we had the only bad pit stop we had all day long under that yellow. So, as it turned out, we were third when the caution came out and we were 13th when we went back to green with not that many laps to go."

Interim crew chief Troy Raker noted after the race that it was about track position.

"It's been roll the dice on these pit stops," Raker said. "I've tried to team up with people who have been doing this for years and they even missed it a little bit. We were talking coming down the backstretch trying to decide whether to pit or not.

"Everybody is a little frustrated that we're not getting the finishes, and they ought to be. We know they'll come. Everybody on the crew is pretty proud and everybody at the shop is pretty happy right now. We're running better. There's no doubt about that."

Newman also noted the two Penske teams were "getting along great."

"I think Kurt struggled on that last pit stop, but the two teams are working great," Newman continued. "We're looking forward to the all-star race and things to come. I think we've got a good program for the rest of the year."

BUSCH SERIES

DARLINGTON, S.C. (May 11, 2007) - Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 12 Kodak Dodge Charger, possessed a fast car for Friday night's Diamond Hill Plywood 200 at Darlington Raceway, but instead of running in the front for most of the race, Newman had to fight his way back from the rear of the field.

Newman had earned a spot in the top 10 by lap nine and he told his crew his car was "pretty good".

"I can get loose into turn three, but that's about it," Newman said.

By the time the first of 10 caution flags had waved on lap 23, Newman had made his way into sixth and he was really happy with his car. However, crew chief Matt Gimbel called for four tires, fuel and a half round of wedge in the left rear on the first pit stop to loosen the car in anticipation of the track tightening up as the night progressed. The stop allowed Newman to gain one spot for the restart, leaving him in fifth when the green flag waved.

When Brent Sherman's spin bought out another caution on lap 53, Newman was in fourth and did not want any adjustments to his car on his second stop of the night.

"The car is not bad," Newman relayed to his Kodak Dodge crew. "It's not as strong in (turns) three and four as it is in (turn) one, but if I get a little track position, I think I'll be gone."

Newman received four tires and fuel only on the second stop, but 19 cars had pitted on the previous caution period, leaving Newman to restart in 25th. After falling back one spot on the restart, Newman began making his way through the field, picking up five spots in five laps. Then came the spin.

Tony Stewart was in the process of passing Newman when he began running into the Kodak Dodge, beating and banging on the No. 12 car until Newman backed off. However, the damage had already been done and the left-rear tire was cut on Newman's car, causing him to spin.

Newman had to pit for new tires, but after putting on fresh rubber, the Kodak Dodge team had to bring the car back onto pit road because debris from the cut left-rear tire had wrapped around the axle and caught fire.

When Newman came back to his stall, rear-tire changer Larry Robinett got the tire off the car and tried to pull the burning rubber off of the axle, but the fire was so intense that fire crews had to extinguish the blaze. Robinett and rear-tire carrier Dustin Coonfield worked together to remove the rubber, but the fumes from the extinguisher hampered their efforts. When new tires were finally on and the damage to the left-rear quarter panel had been repaired, Newman was one lap down in 38th.

The green flag waved on lap 72, but two laps later the yellow came out again, giving Newman the Lucky Dog Award and his lap back. Gimbel brought the car back down pit road just to make sure all of the damage to the car had been repaired.

On lap 79, Newman restarted the race in 36th. By lap 95, Ne wman was up to the 18th position, gaining 18 spots in 16 laps.

Newman continued moving towards the front until the yellow flag hampered his drive on lap 112, leaving Newman in the 11th position.

"I need a good stop guys," Newman rallied his Kodak crew. "This will be the last one."

After four tires, fuel and one round up on the right-side track bar, Newman remained in 11th for the restart. One more caution period occurred before Newman finally made it back into the top 10. However, by that time, there were only 20 laps left and no one planned to pit again. Newman would have to battle his way to the front.

Unfortunately, during the race's closing laps, Kevin Harvick passed Newman to take away the Kodak Dodge's top-10 finish. Newman ended up 11th in Friday night's race.

Newman won't be back in the No. 12 Kodak Dodge Charger in the NASCAR Busch Series until the USG Durock 300 at Chicagoland Speedway in July.

INDY RACING LEAGUE INDYCAR SERIES

INDIANAPOLIS (May 12, 2007) -- Helio Castroneves and his Team Penske crew could have been satisfied with a second-row starting position for this year's Indianapolis 500, but, instead, they risked it all to go for the pole on Saturday.

The gamble paid off as Castroneves won the pole for the 91st Indianapolis 500 with just four minutes left in Saturday's six-hour qualifying session. It was the second Indy 500 pole for Castroneves, who has won the race twice, and a record 14th pole for Team Penske, which has been victorious in the race a record 14 times.

"There's only one guy that's going to win this race from our team in a couple of weeks, but they know that," team owner Roger Penske said. "I've always said if the team is successful, both drivers get the benefit of that, but obviously, they want to pass that around a little bit, too."

Castroneves and his No. 3 Team Penske Honda/Dallara were safely in the race on the inside of the second row when the decision was made to withdraw that effort and go for the pole position. At 5:53 p.m. ET, Castroneves took to the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval. Four laps later, he had bumped Dario Franchitti from the pole.

But it wasn't over. Franchitti's teammate with Andretti Green Racing, Tony Kanaan, followed Castroneves on the track and appeared to be in line to bump Castroneves from the pole until Kanaan's final lap -- almost a tenth of a second slower than the previous lap -- dropped his four-lap average to 225.757 mph, just 0.260 mph -- or 0.420 second -- behind Castroneves.

"I don't think I was breathing during those last four laps," Castroneves said. "I was holding my breath for the whole entire qualifying. It's four laps, not just one lap. The car does so many things during one lap; imagine what it does during four laps. You've just got to trust it, you know?"

Team Penske teammate Sam Hornish J r. also secured a strong starting position despite two dangerously slippery attempts. Hornish will start fifth in the No. 6 Team Penske Honda/Dallara after recording a four-lap average of 225.109 mph.

Hornish's two runs played a crucial role in the tweaks that went into Castroneves' car for the last attempt. Afterward, Castroneves thanked his teammate over the public-address system.

"Helio was on the track speakers and had thanked everybody on the team and then he thanked me," Hornish said. "I was actually taken back a little bit. I was really happy about that. You don't get too many thanks from other drivers at any point in time. That was a pretty neat thing."

Following Castroneves, Kanaan and Franchitti on the front row will be Scott Dixon in fourth, Hornish in fifth and Dan Wheldon in sixth. Ryan Briscoe, driving a car co-owned by Penske's son, Jay, will start seventh.

Castroneves, who won the Indy 500 in 2001 and 2002, finished second to then -teammate Gil de Ferran after scoring his other pole at Indy in 2003.

"We're going to have to continue working," Castroneves said. "This is only the first race, I would say. Like Rick Mears says, 'We have two races at Indy. One is pole day and the other is the actual race.' ... This is the place to take a chance, and we did. We threw the dice."

Both Penske cars, which drew late positions in the qualifying order, withdrew in the heat of the day and returned later. Hornish took two shots at Franchitti, then the pole-sitter, but slid dangerously close to the wall on the first try, then got loose on the last lap of the second attempt.

"The same thing happened, just in different parts of the run," Hornish said. "The first run, I got a little bit wide on the exit of turn 1 and couldn't get the car to turn. The second time, I got a bit of a push. Both times we ended up with the same scenario. I was ready to close my eyes and hit the wall."

Dixon then top ped Hornish's effort with 37 minutes left in the session before Ganassi teammate Wheldon tried and failed in his shot at the pole, falling behind Hornish and Kanaan on the grid.

The cards then fell in Castroneves' favor after a disappointing run with less than two hours left in the session culminated in a four-lap average under 225 mph. After Hornish's two edgy attempts, Castroneves took another shot. This time, it worked.

"It's just incredible to make everything connect," Castroneves said. "So many things can go wrong. At the same time, when you can put everything together, it goes right. That's what happened."

Positions 12 through 22 will be determined in qualifying Sunday. Another round of practice ensues next week before the second weekend of qualifying to determine the back third of the field.

The race is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. ET on May 27 and will be televised live on ABC beginning at noon ET.